Age : 69Location : East of the Rocky MountainsRegistration date : 2012-03-18

Subject: Re: How do you tighten a 9mm stem? Tue Apr 12, 2016 4:04 pm

The method I've used several times with success is that I heat some water until it's almost hot enough to boil. I'm sure that it really doesn't matter if the water gets hot enough to boil. You want some very hot water. Dip the tenon in the water for a minute or so to allow the tenon to soften a little. With an awl or something similar (nail) gently tap the point into the opening of the tenon for about 1/3 - 1/2 inch. What you are doing is causing the teneon to swell a bit. Take your time and if you are using the awl you can do this in one step because the shaft of the awl is tapered. If you are using a nail you may have to keep changing the nail until you get one that will make the tenon large enough to fit tightly.

I'm sure there are a large number of ways to do it but this methos works for me and seems to have a minimum amount of risk. I've seen some other people use a candle or use their pipe lighter to heat the tenon. I'm afraid of over heating the tenon causing it to melt, warp, or something that will be beyond my scarce capabilities to straighten it out.

Maybe some others here will have a method that is simpler or offer less risk. Good luck and whatever method you use I'd really like to know the results.

Leave the tenon alone and run a drop of super glue inside the mortise, spread it with a toothpick or whatever. Let it dry for a 1/2 hour, test the fit, repeat as necessary. Works like a damn and will stabilize the mortise as well.

Leave the tenon alone and run a drop of super glue inside the mortise, spread it with a toothpick or whatever. Let it dry for a 1/2 hour, test the fit, repeat as necessary. Works like a damn and will stabilize the mortise as well.

Age : 69Location : East of the Rocky MountainsRegistration date : 2012-03-18

Subject: Re: How do you tighten a 9mm stem? Tue Apr 12, 2016 8:23 pm

I think you'd be well advised to go with the method given by Sasquatch and Todd Harris. Both make very fine pipes and what they say certainly holds more water than anything I have. My method works for me but I didn't know about their method. I will certainly give it a try the next time I need to tighten up a loose stem. I'm getting old and already set in many of my ways but I can still learn new tricks and have the wisdom to listen to those that have way more knowledge about the subject than I do.

AJ

After reading the response from Saquatch I realized that you were talking about a 9mm tenon. I understood the problem clearly and yet my response was about tightening a standard tenon on a non-filtered pipe. Again another example of what growing old can do to the mind. There's no way that the method I posted will work on a 9mm tenon using an awl. The shaft on the awl is way too small. Maybe I should give up on giving instructions about anything. I do enough around my house to make people believe that I'm some sort of an idiot. At the rate my memory is fading it won't too long that I'll forget my abc's and won't be able to write about anything. Forgetting things and appearing like an idiot are just two of the many things that old geezers like me have to deal with. It was terribly kind of Sasquatch and Todd to post an answer to the OP"s question without writing anything negative about my answer.

Last edited by ajn27511 on Wed Apr 13, 2016 12:33 am; edited 1 time in total

Under ordinary circumstances, you have a choice of expanding a tenon or reducing a mortise if things are loose - with a 9mm pipe the most likely tenon is delrin or teflon, and it's probably real thin. So trying to expand it like a vulcanite tenon is probably not going to work, and there's danger of mucking it up. If the super glue thing goes wrong, all you do is roll up some sandpaper and sand it out real super gentle. Very low risk.

Cool. I'll give it a couple smokes to see if the moisture is enough to tighten it up a bit. It could just be really dry. It does hold but I'm afraid if i was to clinch it and move my head it ain't gonna hold. If not super glue it is. Yes the walls of the tenon are quite thin since it has the 9mm space.

Leave the tenon alone and run a drop of super glue inside the mortise, spread it with a toothpick or whatever. Let it dry for a 1/2 hour, test the fit, repeat as necessary. Works like a damn and will stabilize the mortise as well.

Put a little bit of transparent cutex on the tenon, let dry and.....there you go.

Super glue doesn't seem to bond with vulcanite in my experience. I've filled a few stem bite-throughs with super glue. Eventually it will peel off leaving the stem as it was.

A good temporary fix is to wrap a single layer of a napkin around the tenon and fit it into the pipe. The stem will stay snug and also soak up the moisture while you smoke. That'll work until you can do something more permanent.

_________________Many of the greatest pleasures in life are illegal, immoral, or smelly.

FWIW. Beeswax is my standard fix for all loose stems. Simply rub it round the tenon and smooth it by rolling between your fingers. Insert, then remove and pick away any excess with a toothpick or some such. Presto, you are Robert's nephew.